Protecting What is Precious
by LilZoro
Summary: This is a twist on what happened in Marineford and some of the events after. Sorry, it's kind of a bad summary. Also I'm going to warn you that this has major some MAJOR SPOILERS especially if you haven't watched episode 483 of the anime so read at your own risk. Ace x Reader
1. Chapter 1

It was a day that changed the world forever. The war of the century began and ended. Teach's true power and intentions were revealed to the world. Whitebeard died protecting his family until his last breath. All of these things can be seen as more horrific and unbelievable compared to the death of a simple pirate. However, to Y/N, the death of this simple pirate was the most tragic and heartbreaking moment of her entire life.

Portgas D. Ace was that supposedly simple pirate and his death is what tore her world in two that day.

* * *

 _1522_

Y/N had blood running down her face from a gash on her head. She had cuts and bruises littering her body, most of her clothes torn to shreds because of it. But she kept on fighting, no matter how much pain she was in. With her single sword and years of skills that she has mastered, Y/N was slashing through a group of marines with grace and ruthlessness. During those few moments, it seemed like an average battle for the Whitebeard crew. Just cutting through marines so they could live for another day, to continue their adventures. However, everything changed when Ace's scream pierced through the sound of clashing of swords and the boom of guns;

 _"LUFFY!"_

After striking down the last solider, she turned herself to the direction of his scream. The sight before her made her heart seize it's rapid beating.

On his feet in front of Luffy was Ace. It didn't seem like an unusual sight at first. The moment Ace was released from his chains, he had Luffy's back throughout the battle. He was taking advantage of his Logia Devil Fruit powers, taking every punch and bullet without even flinching. It wasn't until she saw the magma fist protruding out of his chest that she realized his powers weren't protecting him this time. With this single punch, he wasn't going to walking this one off like the others. The expression on his face was like stone, but she could see in his eyes that he was suffering from a pain he has never felt before.

Suddenly, he collapsed to his knees and into Luffy's arms, blood pouring out of his mouth. A startled gasp escaped Y/N, her hands covering her agape mouth from the horror of it all. Y/N has never seen Ace like this before. Even after the most brutal fights, he was always able to give a grin and a joke to put everyone at ease as they let exhaustion take over their bodies. But this time, it was different. He looked weak and exhausted. He looked like he was in pain. He looked… _defeated._

Y/N's legs finally gave out from under her, her knees painfully making contact with the stone ground. Her body began to shake and tears started to run down her dirt ridden face. She bowed her head as sobs started to rack through her body. She clenched her hands that were resting on her thighs into fist as more emotions started to attack her body. The feelings of rage, sorrow, frustration, and helplessness continued it's assault before letting them all out in a simple scream; _"ACE!"_

It was a name that was once said with so much love and laughter, but this cruel twist of fate has overshadowed those once cheerful memories.

Y/N turned her head up to find her eyes connecting with Ace's. Ace had his chin resting on Luffy's shoulder, some of the blood from his mouth staining it. He was breathing hard, using everything piece of strength he had left to keep breathing. But somehow he spared what little strength he had left to give her one last smile. It was that smile that sealed her destiny with Ace the moment they met. It was his smile that made her trust him when she first joined the Whitebeard Pirates. It was his smile that made every struggle worth living through. It was his smile that made her fall in love with him.

She didn't realize it but she was giving him her own weak smile back, even through all the tears and pain. What she didn't know is that her smile helped him finally let go of all the pain, allowing himself to fade off into a blissful and eternal rest.

Ace's bright black eyes faded into a dull, lifeless grey before closing, his now limp body falling from Luffy's arms to the cold ground. The moment he hit it, Y/N was up and running towards the siblings. She kneeled down beside Ace's body once she arrived. She carefully turned him on to his back, quickly resting her ear on to his chest. She quieted her breathing and blocked out her surroundings, desperately holding on to the hope of hearing his still beating heart.

That hope was lost when there wasn't a single sound to be heard.

The pain of this discovery came crashing down on her. She tightened her arms around the lifeless body of the man she still loves, resting her forehead on his chest as fresh tears fell and anguished sobs racked her body. She didn't even flinch when Luffy's pained screams filled the air.

After a few moments and finally calming herself down, Y/N noticed a sudden rise in temperature coming from behind her. She lifted herself from Ace's cold body before turning her head to see Admiral Sakazuki heading straight for them. Or more specifically, heading straight for Luffy. Acting on instinct, she flung herself in front of him. She hugged him to her chest as she used herself to shield him. She already failed Ace by letting him die instead of protecting him like she should have. She wasn't about to fail him again by letting the government take the life of his precious baby brother. She was going to die before that could ever happen.

Y/N shut her eyes as she prepared herself to suffer the same way Ace did. However, the pain never came. She opened her eyes and turned to see familiar blue flames blocking the admiral's magma fist. "Marco…" she breathed out in relief before releasing Luffy from her hold. She turned back to the younger sibling when she heard heavy footsteps approaching. The warlord and fishman, Jinbe, had rushed over to them before kneeling down to check on a paralyzed Luffy.

"Y/N," Marco gritted through his teeth, "get the hell out of here. I-I can't hold him back much longer." Hearing those words from the 1st Division Commander, Jinbu carefully picked up Luffy and began to run in the opposite direction of them. She sniffled and wiped her tear stained cheeks before nodding her head, "Ok. Be careful Marco."

She stood and glanced down one last time at Ace before running after Luffy and Jinbu. As she ran, she dodged every attack that came at her and punched or kicked anyone out of her way.

"You can't run from me!"

Y/N turned her head over her shoulder to see Akainu coming in her direction with her and some other crew members being the only obstacles in his way of getting to Luffy. As she turned back, she spotted her sword a few feet from her. She ran faster and quickly scooped it up before skidding to a stop as she faced the admiral bastard. If he thought she was just going to be another obstacle he can just run over, he was wrong.

With her sword raised and at the ready, she was ready to block him with every ounce of her might. However before he reach her, a large shadow casted over the bother of them and loud slam filled the air along with the sound of cracking stone. She looked up to see the familiar face of the man she had grown to trust and respect, her shoulders relaxing with relief.

 _"Pops."_

"Y/N." At the sound of her name, she lowered her sword and gave her full attention to the man who gave her a home when no one else would. "Go with Ace's brother. He will need you to get through this difficult time and you will need him. Make sure to take care of yourself, my daughter."

Y/N swallowed hard and could feel her eye beginning to water as she nodded her head. "I-I will Pops, promise." she said with a strained voice. She turned and began to run in the direction Luffy and Jinbu had gone. "Thank you for everything! I love you Pops!" she cried back over her shoulder as a few tears ran down her cheeks but she quickly wiped them away. She owed everything to Whitebeard. He gave her everything she ever wanted and she couldn't be more thankful for meeting the old man. She knows that he will beat the living shit out of that admiral bastard for the both of them, getting what he deserved for what he did to Ace.

With Pops putting himself through hell to protect his family, Y/N was at least grateful that one of his son's would be waiting for him on the other side.

With Jinbu and Luffy having a good head start on her and having to deal with the marines, it took her a while to finally get down to the ice covered ocean. However, she was surprised to see that Jinbu and Luffy apparently hadn't made it this far yet. Just as she turned to find a way back, she looked up to see Jinbu flying through the air with the admiral hot on his trail. She watched the two fight in the air before gasping in horror as Akainu used his magma fist to penetrate through Jinbu's chest.

"Jinbu, Luffy!" She cried out as they started falling toward the ice. She began running in their direction, ignoring and pushing away the exhaustion trying to take ahold of her of her body. She wasn't going to let that happen. She wasn't going to let her body give up on her like this. Y/N pumped her legs harder as she saw Akainu stalking his way over to the pair on the ground. As she got closer and closer, she got her sword ready to strike. With his arm back and ready to kill Jinbu, Y/N jumped in between the two with her sword cutting off his magma shaped fist. The attack caught him off guard, making him take a step back. With her positioned between the two, she had her sword raised as she panted. She glared up at the man as he stared her down with both disgust and anger.

"Get out of my way girl." he growled as the magma reformed back into a fist.

"Go to hell! I'm not letting you lay a finger on him you bastard!" she growled back, rage filling every vein in her body. "It doesn't matter if you kill me and Jinbu. There will be a hundred others to replace us. We won't let you take away the last thing keeping Ace alive in this world!" Y/N shouted angrily as she stood her ground, not wavering in the slightest.

A cruel smirk rose on to the man's lip as he pulled his arm back, ready to punch a hole through her. "What a load of crap."

Suddenly, the ice beneath them cracked before sand shot out from them, cutting the magma devil fruit user in half. She turned her head to see the sand swirl around before revealing the solid form of the ex-warlord, Crocodile. Before she could question anything, he sent a sand tornado in their direction. The wind was strong enough to pick the three of them up of the ground and into the air, blowing them out of harms way. With Jinbu holding on to Luffy, Y/N was flying on her own. She didn't even realize she was flying away from them until Jinbu grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. She clung on to him tightly, shutting her eyes and readied herself for a painful impact as she felt them starting to fall.

However, the impact never came. Instead, they were floating in mid-air.

Once she opened her eyes and realized this, she looked up to see the face of a red nose clown holding them up. It seemed like he was using some type of devil fruit power to keep them up in the air. Y/N ignored his rant as she focused on herself, trying to resist the urge of passing out. When she felt another sudden increase in the temperature around them, she looked to her right to see a ginormous magma fist heading their way.

"Hey clown! Move!" She cried.

With hearing her warning, Buggy looked and let out a girlish scream as he moved out of harms way. Y/N just rolled her eyes at his reaction. She turned her eyes down, trying to search for an area or ship that was clear from any danger so that they could be set down. No luck. Though, it also didn't help that a whiny, annoying voice was filling her ears.

"Hey Big Nose! Would you just shut up already!?" she shouted angrily.

Buggy glared down at the girl, "You can't give me orders girlie!" the clown shouted back before turning his head up. After a couple of moments his head snapped back down toward her, "Hey! What did you just say about my nose!?"

Y/N rolled her eyes out of irritation but before she could respond, a loud splashing noise cut through the air. Her eyes were drawn to the sound only to find a bright yellow submarine submerging from an open spot in the ice. When she heard multiple cries about a Jolly Roger, a sigh of relief escaped her. She was just glad that this surprise included some possibly allies. An eyebrow rose when she noticed a man with a very large sword standing on deck, yelling at the clown. She was momentarily distracted when she saw a large mass of fluffy, white fur in an orange jump suit. When she squinted her eyes a bit she realized that fluffy mass kind of looked like a…polar bear. Odd, but cute.

"…we can escape. He'll die without my help!"

Y/N snapped her attention back to the swordsman as he shouted at Buggy. After the clown responded, her eyes widened at the other man's response.

 _"Trust me, I'm a doctor."_

Y/N turned her head up toward to the former captain, "Clown, drop us down to him now!" she demanded. She figured at this point, their chance of survival would be better off in the hands a complete stranger, who claims to be a doctor, but could possibly be a rival than sticking around in this place any longer. Her demand made Buggy the Clown glare down at her before screeching, "If I won't take orders from him, like hell I'll take orders from you missy!"

Before Y/N could snap back with an angry reply, a sudden wave of pain and exhaustion hit her body making her wince. Shit, her body couldn't hold out anymore. Through her struggle to keep herself from passing out, she heard Buggy yell to the so called doctor, "You know what? Fine! I don't need this right now. They are all probably going to die anyways!" That was the last thing she heard from him before feeling weightless in the air as he flung them down towards the submarine. As they flew through the air, Y/N could feel what little strength she had left fade away as they dropped. Her grip on Jinbu loosened because of this making her let go of the pair. Fortunately, they were close enough to the ship that she didn't drift too far away from them.

Jinbu and Luffy were both caught by Jean Bart before handing Luffy off to Penguin. Y/N fell into the arms of something white and soft, but the impact still made her groan in pain. With weak, strained breathes, she looked up at the polar bear through blurry eyes, "S-save Luffy, pl-please." These were the last words she was able to get past her lips before letting the quite darkness consume her.


	2. Chapter 2

_Y/N was back in the plaza of Marineford, surrounded by her comrades as they fought to break through the marine's defenses. The platform had just fallen, along with Luffy and a newly freed Ace. Y/N was struggling to get through the unless stream of soldiers so that she could get to Ace. It had been two long months since they had last seen each other. His excuse to coming by the ship was so he could check in with the whole crew, but really, she knew he came back for her own sanity._

 _Ever since he started his journey to find Teach, her concern for his safety continue to grow and grow like a festering wound. The anxiety of the whole situation gets to her pretty badly and if she didn't have her crew, she would have gone insane a long time ago. So, she was always thankful for his brief visits. Even if she didn't express her worries out loud, it always seemed liked he could read her like a book. However, they were only able to spend a week together in each other's arms before he had to leave again, but it was enough to relax her nerves. Then when they got news about what went down between Ace and Teach, her heart broke. She couldn't believe he was in the hands of those navy bastards and her heart ached every day he had to spend in that hell known as Impel Down._

 _So now, at this moment, she was desperate to just reach him and hold him in her arms again. With this thought in mind, she was acting reckless as she fought against her foes. The desperation for this caused her to be distracted as well. So distracted that she wasn't aware of a sword ready to stab her through the back._

 _However, someone else was._

 _Suddenly, the temperature behind her increased significantly and a familiar voice rang through her ears as they yelled, "Fire Fist!" Y/N spun around quickly, only to find herself face to face with the man she loves._

" _Honestly, I don't know how you survive without me watching your back." Ace teased as his signature smug grin rose on to his lips, showing off the freckles on his handsome face. Y/N tried to purse her lips to suppress her smile, but the smile broke out in the end. She sheathed her sword and took a step closer to him as she shook her head, "Just shut up and kiss me, you fire bastard." She teased back before placing her hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down to have his lips meet her's in a searing kiss._

 _The moment their lips touched, the whole world around them went silent, leaving just the two of them. They kissed each other passionately, pouring all their love and desperation for each other into the intimate action. With his arms wrapped tightly around her waist and her arms wrapped around his shoulders, they fit together perfectly. When they finally pulled away from the kiss, Y/N's eyes were watery and she had a big grin on her face. Ace gave her his own smile before planting a kiss on her forehead, the action making her heart flutter even more._

 _However, this prefect moment was shattered when she looked down._

 _Ace's once solid chest had a bloody, gaping hole in it. Y/N eyes widened in horror, "Ace-", her voice died in her throat when she looked up at his face. The grin on his face was replaced with blood filled smile instead and his once lively eyes were now staring blankly into her's. Y/N whole body began to shake and tears started to stream down her face as she shook her head in disbelief. Suddenly, Ace's body gave out taking her with him as he collapsed to the ground. The environment around them has shifted, the battle being replaced with a black abyss surrounding the two. With her on her knees, she held him close to her chest as sobs began to escape her. "Th-this isn't real. I-it can't be." she whispered softly. She could feel Ace's blood soaking her clothes, the feeling sent a shiver down her spine. With a shaky hand, she placed it on to his cold cheek._

" _A-Ace?" She said. He didn't respond._

 _She used her hand to lightly shake his head, "Ace, wake up." He didn't move. She tried to shake his body, "Ace, please, just wake up." she said, frustration starting to take over her emotions. She lightly hit his cheek, "Ace wake up!" she yelled this time, hitting him a few more times. "Ace please! Wake up!" she yelled._

 _His eyes didn't even flutter._

 _Tears began running down her face as she held him close, burying her head into his shoulder. "Please Ace, just wake up. You can't leave me, you just can't." she sobbed out. Y/N pulled back from his shoulder to look down at him, her tears hitting his pale skin. She finally screamed at him the one thing she feared the most;_

" _Don't leave me alone!"_

Y/N woke with a start, her body snapping forward from a bed and letting out gasping breathes. She could feel cold sweats covering her body, the sheets sticking to her because of that. Feeling suffocated, she quickly threw the sheets off her to try and calm herself down. After a few minutes, she was finally able to calm both her breathing and rapid heartbeat. With her mind slightly clear, she was finally able to take in her surroundings. She first noticed that her clothes were replaced with a clean tank top and shorts, both somewhat too big for her along with some bandages being wrapped around her arms and legs. She reached up to feel another bandage covering the gash the was on her head. She looked to her left to see that she was hooked up to an IV drip.

The next thing she noticed was the actual room she was in. It looked to be completely made out of metal which was odd. She must be in some type of special ship or perhaps even a prison.

" _Where am I? And where the hell is Luffy?"_ She thought to herself.

Once this thought occurred to her, Y/N shifted herself to have her legs hanging off the side of the bed. The movement made a sudden rush a pain goes through her entire body, making her wince. Her mind was so busy with everything else going on, she hasn't even registered the amount of pain she is actually in. She took a couple of deep breathes, getting ready to push herself off the bed.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Your body still needs to heal which means you need to keep your ass in bed."

The deep voice made her pause in her movements and turn her head to the direction the voice came from. Leaning against the doorframe was a tall man with his arms crossed over his chest. He was wearing a yellow and black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing of the tattoos that were inked into his arms and fingers. He was also wearing a fluffy white hat with brownish dots adorning it, something that should make him less intimidating but didn't. Y/N narrowed her eyes at him, "Where am I?" She asked, her voice slightly hoarse from a dry throat but a guarded tone could still be heard.

"You, along with Straw Hat and the fish man warlord, are on my submarine."

The mentioned of a submarine made her eyes snap down to his chest. His arms still covered most of the jolly roger symbol on his chest, but with the few parts of it she could see it wasn't hard to recognize it. "You're Trafalgar Law, aren't you? The Surgeon of Death? One of the most ruthless pirates to come out of the North Blue?" She asked as her E/C eyes made contact with his yellow ones before he nodded his head in confirmation. She let out a sigh, "Figures. Going from one insanity to the next." She mumbled before burying her face into her hands. After a moment her head snapped up, "Wait, what happened to Luffy? Is he ok? Is he alive?" She asked quickly and desperately, beginning to rise from the bed again before quickly sitting back down as pain erupted through her legs.

"He had to go through some major surgery but with time he should heal just fine. His mental state, however, is a different story." Law said, his tone slightly bored but steady. Relief flooded her system, releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. She looked down at the ground, "Thank gods he's still alive." She whispered softly to herself. With Luffy alive, she can keep her promise to Whitebeard and can make sure Luffy keeps living his life, for Ace's sake.

"Also," Law interrupted her thought, "there is something that you should be aware of." He said, seeming to become slightly uncomfortable with that statement. Y/N raised an eye brow at the man, "What?"

Law took in a breath, "You are two months pregnant."

Her whole body froze at that sentence, at that single word.

 _Pregnant._

Y/N just stared at Law, shock being the only emotion she able to display on her face. She turned her eyes away from him to the cold, metal floor before closing them as she took a deep, shaky breath. "How…" She started as she turned her head back up to him, staring at him with her E/C eyes. "I just went through a battle. I put my body through complete hell. Y-you should be telling me that I _was_ pregnant, not that I am." Her tone was shaky, but hard with frustration and confusion. "I-it just can't be possible." She mumbled, rubbing her face with her hands.

"You're right." Law said blatantly. "The amount of minor injuries you have sustained along with the extreme stress you put your body through, that baby should be dead." His blatant explanation made her flinched. "And there is a high chance that you might have a miscarriage in the next few weeks." At those words, worry and fear filled her eyes. She only found out about this baby barely a minute ago and already she was worried for its wellbeing. "However," He continued, "the fact that the little bastard is even still alive is a miracle in itself." He said as a mischievous grin rose on to his lips, "I wouldn't be surprised if the little guy pulled another one."

And with that, he left, leaving her to her own thoughts to deal with. Y/N swallowed hard before bowing her head as she looked down at herself. Her mind conjured up an image of herself, her flat stomach being replaced with a swollen belly. A belly that is holding and protecting the last remaining remnant of Ace's legacy. With shaky a hand, she placed it on top of her flat stomach. She gently caressed her stomach with her thumb. Tears began to fall from her eyes, not sure if they were out of happiness for this little miracle or out of fear for what the future might hold.


End file.
